A Comparison Of The Scientific Revolution, Scientism And Its Implications, Long-term and Short-term Contributions Of Religion In the sixteenth

and seventeenth century, scientists have participated in the scientific revolution, whereby they use scientific methods (experiments, methods, observations) and follow based on the logic of reason. (enotes, 2011 and ClassWeb.gmu.edu, n.d.) In this paper, I will discuss about its implications and future contributions, with respect to the various religious aspects. Religion has also played a significant part in the revolution, which can be either through oppression or encouragement. We first go into the role of Science, especially during the Scientific Revolution from a Christian point of view, especially through the eyes of Catholics and Protestants. Before the revolution took place, the Catholic Church was the undisputed authority and perceived to be the unilateral voice of thought that the people must obey (rules by a strong Catholic Church must be followed, including marriage relationships, business dealings and other life choices), and that all study of human shall be categorized under the theological studies. (Banach, 2006; Streich, 2009, Sparknotes.com, 2012; WesternCivGuides.umwblogs.org, 2011 ) The Scientific Revolution is also mainly caused by the Protestant Reformation, where under Martin Luther, the followers ditched the traditional teachings into an age of more logical thinking, and endangering the Church, and this leads to persecutions of those who defy the teachings and the logic of the Church. (Banach, 2006; Streich, 2009, Sparknotes.com, 2012; WesternCivGuides.umwblogs.org, 2011 ) Nicholas Copernicus, a Polish astronomer and ironically, a Catholic priest was filled with scientific curiosity and challenged the Church on which the universe is circled around the earth. (Banach, 2006; Streich, 2009, Sparknotes.com, 2012; WesternCivGuides.umwblogs.org, 2011 ) He proposed an alternative formula called the Ptolemaic System in which the universe is centered around the sun, and it is accepted today! (Banach, 2006; Streich, 2009,

Sparknotes.com, 2012; WesternCivGuides.umwblogs.org, 2011 )

The Church in

Rome was persecuting Galileo Galilei, a famous Italian mathematician, physics and astronomer who invented the telescope, for heresy in front of the Catholic Inquisition for his work on Dialogues on the Two Chief World Systems (Machamer, 2009). Unlike their Catholic counterparts, Protestants have flourished well from the curiosity and the alternative thinking brought upon by the Reformation with Sir Michael Faraday (inventor of electro-magnectic induction), Charles Babbage (father of computer science and believes God as the programmer) and Matthew Fountain Maury (Father of oceanography and hydrology who chart shipping routes after being inspired by the Bible) leading the way into the scientific research. (Hammond, n.d.) It is then deducted that both the Bible and the teachings of the Catholic and Protestant denominations have both hindered and flourish science, through the role of repression in the 21st century have been taken over from the Catholic Church to the Protestant Church. Protestants would now criticize scientific works based directly on the Bible while the Catholic Church now takes a more diplomatic, logical stance, almost as if the tables have changed. (Banach, 2006; Streich, 2009) We now look into the Islamic point of Scientism. The Islamic religion is very unique as their culture depends more on science than science needs them. And unlike their Christian counterparts, Muslims are generally more curious about improving their intelligence after their conquest towards the west, especially Spain, where they have to learn the local knowledge from the Spaniards. (Fjordman, 2012; Ajad, n.d) We can see that the Muslims (in this context, Arabs) have been influenced by the Western philosophies and scientific discoveries. Although the Muslim civilization flourished during the Dark Ages of Europe, but the Scientific Revolution was also inspired in Cordoba in what was known as the Islamic Spanish Territories. (Fjordman, 2012;

Ajad, n.d) During the time, European colleges such as Oxford were inspired by the collegiate system implemented by the Muslims in the 600s to 700s with the concept of sahib (graduate students) and mutafaqqih (undergraduates). Islam also lead an era of advancement into mathematics (the number zero and the decimal system), medicine and physics long before the Europeans have ever come up with their own theories. (Fjordman, 2012; Ajad, n.d) However, Islams advancement into curiosity has come into futile, as they will have to deal with their own sets of problems, much ado to the aforementioned paragraph on Christianity. For instance, they neglect the translations of Greek literature of Herodotus and Homer as they are more focused on the non-fictional aspect. (Fjordman, 2012; Ajad, n.d) The freewill faction (Qadarites) and the pre-destined faction (Jabarias) were at odds with each other over the idea of Rationalism but the anti-scientific Asharites have truly nailed the coffin of scientific rationalism and thought. (Hoodbhoy, 1997) Since then, there is a decline in the Islamic school of thought and research. Finally, we look into the aspects of scientism from a Hinduism point of view. The ancient Hindus discovery into science and mathematics were the inspiration for both the Islamic and Western scientific researches as some of their findings are applied into their formulae, such as inspirations from mathematical, and biological findings such as the numeral system and rhinoplasty, from Hindu greats such as Pingata and Sage Bharadwaj. (Shouler and Anthony, n.d; GlobalHinduism.com, 2011; Sanskrit.org, n.d; Hindu Genius: Hindu Contribution to Mathematics, 2011) Unlike in Islam and Christianity, the Hindus do not have an authority to stamp their mark or influence on the teachings, and this have also greatly allowed them to carry out. Like the interpretation of the Bible by the Christians, the Hindus also have their interpretation of the Veda, which has a connection with the basic

religious texts. (Shouler and Anthony, n.d; GlobalHinduism.com, 2011; Sanskrit.org, n.d) These religious texts do not analyze physical reality, rather they analyze the spiritual reality as well, including the analyzation of the mind and soul. (Shouler and Anthony, n.d; GlobalHinduism.com, 2011; Sanskrit.org, n.d) However, there are certain people who are trying to relate spiritual texts into modern sciences (quantum physics) in order to justify their faiths and failed to do so. (Shouler and Anthony, n.d) This is because there are still certain vague explanations in which it cant be shown from the Veda as it only explains the basis of science. In conclusion, religion have truly inspired the curiosity and the wonder of science. The stories of Biblical proportions and the myths of Hinduism have truly inspired these scientists to use their divine brains, but these brains have also threatened to destroy, dumb down, or to take a step back from the scientific research on possible findings. Although many atheists and agnostics who might challenge these claims, but these basis of scientific formulae were derived from those who also have a strong religious background, however religion in the long term also stunt the growth of scientism as we see today.

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Fjordman (2012). Islam, The Greeks and The Scientific Revolution. Retrieved from http://www.aina.org/articles/greek2.html Aftad, M. (n.d.) How Islam Influenced Science. Retrieved from http://www.ais.org/~bsb/Herald/Previous/95/science.html Hoodbhoy, P. (1997) Why Didnt The Scientific Revolution Happened In Islam? Retrieved from http://www.chowk.com/Religion/Why-didn-t-the-ScientificRevolution-happen-in-Islam Shouler, K. and Anthony, S. (n.d.) Hinduism and Contemporary Science. Retrieved from http://www.netplaces.com/hinduism/controversies-about-hinduism/hinduismand-contemporary-science.htm GlobalHinduism.com (2011). Hindus Contribution Acknowledge- The Science And The Saints. Retrieved from http://www.globalhinduism.com/article/2011/12/hindus-contributionsacknowledged-science-and-the-saints/ Sanskrit.org (n.d.) Hinduism and Science. Retrieved from http://www.sanskrit.org/www/Hindu%20Primer/hinduismandscience.html Hindu Genius: Hindu Contribution to Mathematics (2011). Retrieved from http://hindugenius.blogspot.com/2011/02/hindu-contribution-to-mathematics.html